Hi! I’m Janice Baskin, curator of Blind Enthusiasm.

This is the place on the blog where I’m supposed to tell you who I am and why you should read this. I guess I could tell you that I’m a mom, a step-mom, a wife, a cancer survivor, an entrepreneur, and a person who copes with daily anxiety and depression – and all of that would be true, but I’m uncomfortable defining myself as any one or combination of those things. I think I’m uncomfortable trying to sum myself up in one neat paragraph on a website. I’m uncomfortable with it because life is not wrapped up in a perfect little package. It’s messy and weird and wonderful and painful and so many other things that simply cannot be categorized.

There are, however, some things that I have learned in my 40+ years of life that I think are undeniable truths. They are:

We cannot live a full life without connecting with one another in a meaningful way.

We rise by lifting others and the more we can learn to give, the better we will feel about our place in this world.

There is no light without darkness but a life with discomfort and even pain, can be meaningful and incredible.

That is what this blog is about. It’s about sharing the stories of how I’ve come to know these truths and about discovering more truths along the way. It’s about the things that rattle around in my head, the books I read, the people I meet, and the experiences I have. I believe that we are a whole lot more alike that we think and the more that we share our stories, the more we will realize that we are not alone.

So thank you for visiting and welcome to the exciting world of Blind Enthusiasm. If you’re anything like me, maybe you will find something valuable within.

Woah, that got heavy fast…

We just met so you might prefer some insight into me that’s a little less “dark reaches of my soul” and a little more “what do you like to do for fun?”. If that’s the case, here it is! I love a good cup of coffee, tattoos, curling up with a book (preferably in a warm, sunny climate but my couch will do), working & playing with my husband, high quality dark chocolate and getting a really good sweat on.